


did your mother always seem to hate me? (i'm sicker every day)

by in_retrospect



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, My Beta is Grammarly, My First Work in This Fandom, Texting, because high school aus are THE best au, corpse is kind of cripplingly depressed..., corpse is the leader of the animal science club ONLY because he's very attached to cats, eh. it will probably hurt, eventual tutor/student but not in a gross way, i am literally making up the plot as im writing it, i got rid of their age gap for the sake of plot, i have never used a beta and i will not end this streak, im eating a lunchable as im posting this, im still deciding if i want this story to hurt, its so pure they're barely even gonna kiss, no beta. i die like corpse in rust, no set update schedule, no spoilers but this MIGHT hurt, sykkuno is even more big brain than toast, sykkuno tutors corpse because corpse is a bit of a depressed mf, thank u grammarly :), this work will not be sexual at any point, very slow moving because i hate fast-paced stories >:(
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-17 15:15:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28602069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/in_retrospect/pseuds/in_retrospect
Summary: Corpse is quite chronically ill, struggling with his grades, and increasingly pressured by the school administration to get back on track, even to the point of threats of his leadership of the Animal Science club being revoked.Sykkuno is a new student, transferred from a big city to a rural paradise that is off-city New York, and he's interested in the Animal Science club.ORCorpse gets more help than he thought he needed from an unlikely source.(title from Out Like A Light 2 - The Honeysticks & Ricky Montgomery)(english is not my first language, please correct my mistakes)
Relationships: Corpse Husband/Sykkuno (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 102





	1. i can't explain, but i wanna try

**Author's Note:**

> hi im new here
> 
> i originally meant for this to be a one-shot because i am TERRIBLE at keeping up with chapter updates (hint hint ill prolly just update literally whenever i want. no set schedule, sorry) but i really liked the world i made so i decided that i'll make this a little longer.
> 
> i dont really have a PLAN perse for this story, but i have a general idea of where i want it to go,, so if something seems random, blame my lack of planning skills
> 
> I must add that I absolutely do not believe that these two are dating in real life, nor will they ever. This is based off of their two online personas. If either says they're uncomfortable with this kind of work being made about them, I will delete this immediately. Do not send this to anybody involved in this fic, and do not pester anyone about this pairing.
> 
> with the disclaimer out of the way.............. enjoy, i suppose? or don't. (and pls leave a comment i feed off of them like a leech)

Sun rays timidly poked through the blinds in a sleeping teenager’s room, casting soft-edged shadows and warmth onto the floorboards. The bed pushed up into a corner of two walls hosted a young, growing boy; no less than seventeen years old. 

Rudely, the sun continued to rise, and with it, more annoying light that prodded at the boy’s eyes. He told himself he would stop waking up before his alarm, but if such inconsiderate natural forces persisted, he wouldn’t have much of a choice.

Groggily he sat up in his bed, his eyes half-lidded. He turned towards his nightstand where his phone lay, internally facepalming at the fact he’d forgotten to put it on its charger that night.

He unlocked it and turned off his alarm before it would jumpscare him and scrolled through his messages. His mom telling him to put clothes in the dryer, his friend Jack wishing him a goodnight that he hadn’t read, and curiously, a message from an unknown number.

Tilting his head to the side like that of a questioning dog, he pressed on the message, and read it.

_Unknown: Hello! Is this Corpse? I got your number from Rachel. She told me that you were the leader of the Animal Science Club?_

The message was sent just a few minutes ago, which was unusual, as the only person who texted Corpse before seven in the morning was his mom, who always left a text of when she’d be home and what she wanted him to do.

He decided to respond. What harm would it do?

_Corpse: Hi, yes. This is Corpse, and I am the leader of the Animal Science Club._

With an assumption that the stranger would probably take a minute or two to reply, he set his phone down and slowly got up from his bed, stretching out his stiff limbs. Surprisingly, the other side of the screen responded quickly.

_Unknown: Good! My name’s Sykkuno. I wanted to join. I’m a little new around here and at my old school there were no leaders of clubs… they were just led by the school, so I’m not exactly used to having to message somebody to join a club, haha_

Making a mental note to tell Rae not to give his number out to strangers and instead give them his Discord, Corpse left the message on read while he took a shower.

As music played from his phone’s speakers and water droplets rolled down his back, he thought up a response. Corpse wasn’t exactly best at social interaction, especially over a screen, and extra-especially with a stranger. Though he wouldn’t say he preferred in-person interaction either.

He stepped out of the shower and shook his hair with a towel. Opening his phone he typed a message back.

_Corpse: Of course. And I get it, new schools suck. If you want to meet up so I can show you around, you can wait for me at the doors this morning. I’ll be in all-black… so it shouldn’t be too hard to spot me. I’ll also show you the room we have for the Animal Science club._

With that he continued on with his morning routine, satisfied with his response. 

He headed out the door at seven-thirty in the morning, early for his standards. He wouldn’t describe himself as _excited_ for the new semester, but he did want to make a good “first-day back” impression after winter break.

Another text pinged his phone as he climbed into his car. 

_Sykkuno: Oh, that would be great, thanks!_

Corpse gave a small smile at the message, enthusiasm over school was something he hadn’t experienced since the first grade. 

He drove off from his dirt driveway and headed down the path he’d memorized long ago to his underfunded, bottom of the barrel high school.

The drive was short, barely five minutes long. The school itself was placed in the middle of a little town, with just a couple of shops and a restaurant that everyone in the area went to. As Corpse parked outside of the school in his usual spot, he put on the black face-mask that he wore everywhere in public and flipped his hood up.

As he promised, he was in fact in all-black, only because that’s all his wardrobe consisted of.

He walked up to the front door, subtly looking around for the guy he’d promised to meet. The school wouldn’t open for another fifteen minutes, so he supposed he was a tad bit too early for Sykkuno. 

However, he was wrong. He eyed a car as it pulled up to the old, cracked parking lot and parked neatly in a spot a few spaces away from Corpse’s. From the car a man wearing a green winter jacket and fluffy boots emerged, seeming to recognize Corpse as he made his way up to him.

“Hi, you’re Corpse right?” The green-clad stranger asked. “I’m Sykkuno! But… if you are Corpse, you probably already know that.” He nervously laughed.

Corpse looked at the supposed Sykkuno up and down. “Yeah.” 

Sykkuno’s eyes widened for a moment. “Wow, your voice is deep! Rachel told me that it was impressive.”

Behind his mask, Corpse smirked. He bit back the temptation to compliment Sykkuno’s own anime protagonist voice, instead deciding to be polite and make small talk. He didn’t really want to scare a potential new friend. “How do you know Rae, by the way?”

“Oh, we used to stream on Twitch together when we were both, like, thirteen. But we met over the internet because we used to trash talk each other in Call of Duty lobbies,” Sykkuno answered. “Well, more like her trash talking me. I was pretty bad.”

Corpse nodded. “She’s told me about her Twitch channel before.” He turned his head to the door. “We’ve got around five to ten minutes before this place finally decides to open up. Also, don’t expect Rae to be around for a little bit. She’s a little notorious for being late.”

“What did you say about me?” A new voice called from the parking lot. Both men turned their heads to see a very unkempt Rachel hobbling up the stone path towards the two. “I’ll have you know that I’m only ever late by, like, thirty minutes, thank you very much!”

“Showing up early for him, huh?” Corpse retorted, tilting his head towards Sykkuno, who quickly threw his hands up and nervously mumbled messages of denial.

Rae scoffed. “No, I’m showing up early to change the narrative.” She turned her head away from the two like they were too disgusting to look at. “I will not be remembered as the late kid in AP classes.”

In response, Corpse shrugged. “I mean, either way, you’re gonna sleep through your alarm tomorrow.”

Sykkuno grinned, bringing his hand up to cover it. “She always had a stream schedule that she never followed through with.”

Rae punched him in the forearm. “Don’t tell Corpse about my embarrassing past!” 

Behind the group of three, the door cracked open, and the principal Mr. Packett greeted the trio. “Just a forewarning, the school’s heater malfunctioned and probably won’t be back up until tomorrow, so keep your coats and hoods on.”

Corpse grunted. The hoodie he was wearing was thick, but not thick enough for a New York winter. “A call would’ve been nice,” he said, frowning.

Mr. Packett nodded. “I didn’t get to the school until seven. But we tried to get a call out to most.”

The deep-voiced junior shrugged. “Eh, I’ll deal with it.” He shuffled into the doorway, with Sykkuno in tow, and waved to Rae as she headed towards her homeroom class. “Anyways, classes don’t actually start for another twenty minutes, and this campus is small, so I could probably show you to your classes and the general places you’ll need to know of.”

He couldn’t see Sykkuno behind him, but he imagined him nodding before the other teen spoke. “Oh, okay. Is that why there’s nobody here right now?”

Corpse chuckled. “Nah, usually there are a couple of people here now, but they probably ruined their sleep cycle over break and overslept.” He turned around to face his companion. “Give me your timetable.”

Sykkuno waved his hand dismissively. “I memorized it. Also, why are all my classes in the same hallway? Is that a thing with this school?”

The other man shook his head. “No, that’s a thing with your first semester. It happened to me too. Not sure why they do it like that, but it’s the hallway where every door starts with D, right?”

“No, actually,” Sykkuno answered, puzzled. “It’s C.” 

Corpse raised an eyebrow. “All the AP classes are in that hallway. Did you really sign up to take all AP classes in your first semester?”  
  


Now, the green-clad teen next to him looked nervous. “Am I not supposed to?”

Quickly Corpse shook his head. “No, it’s just unusual. I’ve never heard of someone who takes all AP classes. You must be smart.”  
  


He watched as a red hue crept up Sykkuno’s cheeks. “T-Thanks.”

Ignoring the growing awkward atmosphere, Corpse continued to walk along, pointing out the gym, cafeteria, and auditorium. 

“And here,” he began, pushing open a door to an unmarked room with no window, “is the Animal Science club room.”

He waited at the doorway as Sykkuno explored the small, charming room. On the far left wall was a whiteboard with little doodles from the club’s members, including a small cat from Corpse, and in the middle of the room was a long table with many chairs pushed beneath. On the right side of the room was a wall of shelves that held a couple of microscopes, stacks of papers that contained scientific articles and reports generally about animals and their biology, and loose items that had probably been placed and forgotten about.

“We meet here on Tuesdays and Wednesdays officially, but sometimes we just use this place as a hangout whenever. The school doesn’t really care as long as we leave by six,” Corpse said.

Above them, the bell rang, and the shuffling of students in the hallway became apparent. Both teens lifted themselves from wherever they were resting and passed each other in the doorway on their way out. As Sykkuno walked towards his first class, he turned around and waved to Corpse.

By all standards, Corpse was cold. The heater was off, his hoodie was thin and he had been shivering slightly just minutes before. However as he waved back, he felt a sliver of warmth in his frigid body. 

Why was it so easy to talk to him?


	2. oh what a bore, you could have so much more

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (chapter title from pop song by strfker)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had to delete this chapter and repost it because i accidentally set it to post on january 8th.. but its almost been a month since i updated so whoops
> 
> tw panic attack

The rambling chatter of rowdy high schoolers and their nonchalant teachers carried through the halls as Corpse speed-walked to his next class. The school day was halfway over, and that was usually when the staff just stopped caring about the students' loud and disruptive behavior. 

He shoved the door open to his AP U.S. History class, ready to just finish up the day. He searched the tables for anyone he knew, spotting a familiar face in the third row. 

"Hey Corpse," a voice called, waving him down. "Come sit with me." It was Jeremy, who'd rather be called Toast for some reason, one of Corpse's newer friends. A wave of relief washed over Corpse as it settled in that he wouldn't have to awkwardly sit next to someone he didn't know like he had for his first four classes. He sat next to Toast, setting his bag down at the foot of his chair (no lockers in a poor high school, that's for sure), and turned towards him.

"I have literally had to sit awkwardly next to four people I don't know this entire day," Corpse sighed, exasperated from the rather copious amounts of forced social interaction he'd had. "I'm so tired."

Toast smirked. "Sounds like you." He shifted his focus to spinning a pencil between his hands. "Have you heard of that new kid?" 

"Yeah, I gave him a tour before classes started. He said he wanted to join my club," the other man responded, propping his elbow on the table and holding his chin in his hand. "Do you know him?"

"Do I know him?" The previously spun pencil tapped on the table as Toast set it down. "He's the talk of the hour, apparently. Kid's taking only AP classes, the school probably begged to have him."

 _Rightfully so,_ Corpse thought, but before he could voice it, the shrill screech of the bell (which the school hadn't replaced since 1978) halted their conversation and demanded their attention, sadly. But as everybody knew, the bell only temporarily paused the post-lunch rowdiness of the student body, and Corpse wasn't surprised when a couple of kids began to start screaming and throwing shit at each other again.

In a low voice, he told Toast, "I swear on my life if I ever get an opportunity to get the hell out of this shithole, I'm leaving. No cap." 

The other student snickered. "No cap, huh?" Their conversation truly ended there, as both parties actually gave a flying fuck about their grades. Corpse turned toward the teacher, who was blankly staring at the class, waiting for them to tire out so she could start the lesson. 

Surprisingly, it didn't take that long. Who knew that sleep-deprived teenagers didn't have that much energy? The rest of the class went by without a hitch, with Toast constantly having to shove Corpse back on the right track because he kept getting lost, and the bell rang to signal the end of the period. Corpse grabbed his bag and hauled it up onto his shoulders, saying farewell to Toast and heading down the C hallway to his next class, his favorite class, AP Environmental Science.

As an avid animal guy, the leader of a club about animal science, and overall a little bit of an ecological nerd, he loved learning about the environment and especially the ways that it affected ecosystems and populations within the wilderness. In fact, this was the only course that he didn't struggle in at all. He was probably the teacher's favorite student because he turned in every assignment the day after it was assigned.

So when he walked into the room where the class was held, early as always, he was pleasantly surprised to see a green-clad (friend?) acquaintance sitting in the first row. Apparently, Sykkuno liked this class too, and Corpse was lucky enough to get a slot with him. 

Noticing Corpse walk in the door, Sykkuno waved hello. "Hey! I didn't know you took this class." He patted the seat next to him, pushed beneath a table for two. "Wanna sit?"

In stark contrast to the morning before, Corpse felt nervousness possess his thoughts, and already an awkward air was setting in. Despite the strange feeling compared to his earlier tour with Sykkuno, he took a seat next to him, muttering a shy "hello." He didn't know why he was suddenly so nervous to talk to him, he'd conversed with him perfectly for twenty minutes before, right? This would be easy.

* * *

It was not easy. For some reason, with the other man next to him, Corpse could not seem to focus. It was like his presence just put him off, and he couldn't pinpoint why. He tried to get back on track, and he would fail every time. It wasn't like he was staring at Sykkuno, but it was like he suddenly hyperfocused on every little action that he made and not on the lesson itself.

The rest of the afternoon dragged on, with Corpse scrambling to finish the rest of his work that he'd slacked on during the forty-five-minute study hall that closed off the slow day.

He said goodbye to a couple of his friends in the parking lot before speeding down the road back home, hundreds of thoughts racing faster than his overworked car, with no clear cause as to why he was so panicked at the moment. 

With shaky hands, he shoved his keys into the door and slowly pushed it open, a dimly lit living room greeting him. He shut the door behind him and took a seat on the couch, resting his palms on the coffee table and attempting to get his breathing under control. 

A full day of social interaction after spending so long in a hidey-hole known as his room had definitely spiked his anxiety and probably caused a subtle panic attack. 

_It's fine, you've been through hundreds of these, just breathe,_ a few of his mismatched trains of thought congregated together to form a coherent sentence, an uninterpretable call for calm. He breathed, in for four, hold for five, out for seven. Over time his hands' merciless shivers stopped, and his thoughts halted to a manageable pace. 

He lifted himself off of his seat and stumbled to his room, flopping onto his bed with abandon, a few random belongings resting there flying in the air for a few moments.

Ignoring the buzz of a new notification sounding from his phone, he laid there with his eyes closed for what seemed like hours before he drifted to sleep, exhaustion seeping from his bones.

* * *

He woke up in the middle of the night with an incredibly dry throat, eight text messages from various people, and blurry vision from how long he'd slept. He checked the time on his phone, 2:30 AM on the dot. Closing his eyes again, he breathed in the scent of his bedsheets, letting out a sigh.

With a start, he sat up and began to read through the messages on his phone.

_Rae (3:48 PM): You okay? You seemed a little frazzled during our study hall_

_Rae (4:19 PM): Corpse?_

_Rae (7:09 PM): (Attached Image: notes.jpg)_

_Sykkuno (4:56 PM): Hey Corpse! Thanks for touring me around today! If you ever need help with your homework or something, just lmk! P.S. You forgot your pen when you gave it to me if you want it back just tell me tomorrow :)_

_Jack (9:09 PM): U sleep?_

_Toast (4:01 PM): shit i left my notes with u can u hand em back tmr?_

_Toast (4:09 PM): ayo?_

_Toast (5:12 PM): anyways ur asleep i think so just give em back during environment sci_

Corpse rubbed his eyes as he set his phone back down on the dresser. _Shit, there goes my sleep schedule,_ he mused internally, grabbing a change of clothes and haphazardly spraying his hair with dry shampoo, skipping a shower as to not wake up his mother before her alarm went off at six. While he was sleeping he had missed dinner, so he ate a sad plate of microwave-reheated leftovers and created a schedule in his mind as his to-do list.

His thoughts wandered to his newest friend, Sykkuno. It seemed as if he was interested in his club without even being his friend, which was nice. There were hardly any clubs in the school, and out of the handful, Corpse's club was the least popular. It was basically just a hangout group with his select few friends that were somewhat interested in animals, and the school had taken notice. 

Sometimes they scraped money together for a school fundraiser, but overall, the club was a net negative for the school's funding, and the only reason it stood was the outstanding grades from each member, along with a healthy amount of pleading by Corpse and relationships between the principal and some members' parents. 

Unlike the Drama club, which had a fourth of the school's entire student body in attendance, the Animal Science club was holding on by a thread, and unfortunately for Corpse, his depression had worsened over time and his grades plummeted. Now the staff wasn't so keen on keeping the club, the only compromise being that the room wouldn't be used for anything else.

With a sigh Corpse stared at his unfinished meal, dreading his future and his inevitable, continuous fall into the darkness that was a depressive mind.

He threw the plate away with his food and retreated into his room again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can u tell how heavily i rely on dialogue or no? this entire fic is based on my own experience with high school btw... im not sure how it relates to urs

**Author's Note:**

> yes sykkuno is a little stupid sometimes......... yes i made him a literal megamind big brain man here........................... the plot requires it, silly
> 
> i swear the story will speed up soon. i am aware it's a little slow right now...... but its on purpose


End file.
